


Know your Future

by justinsbuzz



Series: The end... [5]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Amethyst acting like an older sister, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Comfort, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Graduation i guess?, Hurt/Comfort, I refuse to argue about this, It's going to be ok, Returning Characters, Slice of Life, Steven needs a hug, Together forever, it's a goddamn bunny!, its a bunny, no its a duck, not giving up any time soon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:56:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23044378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justinsbuzz/pseuds/justinsbuzz
Summary: Steven and Connie, realizing that they haven't been in classes, tries to find Pearl after being gone for a couple of months.
Relationships: Amethyst/Peridot (Steven Universe), Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe), Pearl/Pink Diamond's Pearl (Steven Universe)
Series: The end... [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1509437
Kudos: 9





	Know your Future

**Author's Note:**

> oooooooooooooooooooooof
> 
> Honestly, just that. I'm getting flashbacks of the summer of 2018, where i wrote a story a week. Class is slow and abstract, life sucks right now, and I'm not going to give up on my writing despite the show going down hill and ending in tears. I have a few more stories for another arc lined up, so I'll be around.

“That’s a duck.” Amethyst said, pointing at a cloud in the sky.

“What’s a duck?” Spinel said, looking at the cloud, and squinting at it.

“It’s a bipedal, avian species that’s capable of flight, floating on water, and hating humanity.” Peridot answered flatly. She subtly resents Amethyst for making her roll around in bread crumbs so she could be their god. No one is ever sure why, but Amethyst would make nearly anything sound like a good idea to Peridot.

“Nope. Rabbit.” Lapis said, looking at the cloud at a different angle.

“Oh man… Not this again. Seriously, Lapis?” Connie asked sternly. “We’re doing this again? It’s clearly a duck. It’s even flapping it’s wings and everything!”

“Nope. That there’s a rabbit.” Lapis said in an accent she picked up from living on a farm for a short while.

“hrmmm…” Connie said, pursing her lips. “Steven, help your girlfriend! That’s a duck, right?”

“That’s… that’s actually an optical illusion, in which you can see two different things in one object. It’s all about seeing something from a certain point of view.” Steven said, looking over at Connie. “So yeah… It’s a duck, but at the same time, it’s a rabbit. And in a few moments, it can be something completely different. Universal constant of change.”

“So… I am right then!” Connie declared triumphantly. “Eat it, clod.”

“Guys… come on.” Steven groaned.

“Is this because Lapis nearly drowned you?” Amethyst asked.

“No…” Connie replied.

“Is it because she stole your pants style when she reformed?” Peridot asked.

“No… don’t be obscured.” Connie replied again.

“It’s the pants thing.” Peridot spoke, knowing that it was probably both because of the drowning and stealing Connie’s sword fighting fashion. 

“It’s not the pants thing.” Connie said. “I’m not in charge of Lapis’ fashion sense… even though she did steal it.”

“Girl-who-steals-hairstyles-says-what.” Lapis murmured.

“That was a coincidence. I grew it out again.” Connie explained. “And I didn’t cut it to look like you, Lapis. I did it because… I was tired of having my neck suffocating. It was getting hot.”

“And now Steven thinks your hot.” Amethyst said. Normally Steven would protest, but as of late, he had been going with the flow of things.

“Connie always looks beautiful though.” Steven said fondly without missing a beat. “And I remember you telling me how it’s been a problem for you. Either way… ok, yeah. hotness.”

“I thought it was because she was trying to get over you?” Peridot said flatly, causing Steven to have heart burn in his gem, and Connie to shift uncomfortably on the ground.

“That... wasn’t the main reason.” Connie said, sounding guilty. “I just thought that a little change would cheer me up… and it didn’t… and Steven said he liked my hair and I cheered up. Everyone wins.”

Steven stretched his hand to meet Connies, and slightly squeezing it in a show of low-key affection.

“Well, if we’re going to talk about fashion, I have to admit, you pull off those shorts really well.” Spinel said to Connie. “It’s like we both went to the same store!”

Peridot couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of what Spinel said.

“I will murder you so har- nope!” Connie stopped herself before taking a deep breath. “Nope. Not going to feed into it. But all I can say is that I’m proud of my legs and just say th…tha… hrmm… thank… you…”

“That sounded painful.” Steven said, both he and Connie doing their best to ignore Peridot and Spinel’s giggling. “And seriously, I will put you both in a time out bubble.”

“You mean ‘I will’?” Amethyst asked. “Remember about trying to limit your power usage before we kind of understand what’s what?”

Steven was reminded of a talk he had with Garnet and Amethyst about this new found powers, and how it was something that both Amethyst and Garnet had never seen before. For the sake of safety, Steven agreed that he should limit his power usage as much as possible.

“Hmm… yeah.” Steven said, suddenly noticing that Spinel stopped laughing, and laid there completely stunned. “Amethyst takes Spinel, Lapis takes Peridot.”

“Lame.” Peridot protested.

“What’s wrong? Don’t like my bubbles?” Lapis asked coyingly. This caused Peridot to back track her previous statement. But before Peridot could say anything, a voice was heard from the lower end of the hillside.

“Shouldn’t you be in school, you two?” Doug asked. Steven and Connie lifted themselves upright from their cloud watching position.

“Hey… Wait a minute.” Connie said, slowly coming to a realization. “We should be in school! Where’s Pearl? Has anyone seen her?”

“Come to think of it… I haven’t seen her since new year’s.” Steven added in. “Why have I not noticed that sooner?”

“You had a lot going on, Steven.” Lapis said, helping Peridot up from the ground.

“Hmm… I’m not sure where she is either. I should know, but… dang.” Amethyst said, sounding frustrated.

“Actually… I saw her.” Spinel said, folding herself upwards. “About a few weeks ago when she was checking up on you…”

“Wait, I was in that room the entire time! I may have fallen asleep there a few times, but I would have kno-” Connie stopped herself before her eyes widened. “The quilt… someone put a quilt over me when I was sleeping one night.”

“Light blue quilt?” Spinel asked, causing Connie to flinch.

“Y- yeah.” Connie replied reluctantly. “But does anyone have any idea if where she is? Dad?”

Connie turned to her dad, who stood there in confusion. He had gone from thinking his daughter was becoming a delinquent, to mentally filing a missing persons form.

“Um… Honestly, I haven’t seen her in a month. We use to talk a lot. But after January, she just… slowly fell off the radar.” Doug said, sounding concerned. “We… probably should start looking for her. Greg might know.”

“What about Priyanka?” Lapis asked.

“Ooof. I doubt she would know. Ever since she went into psychology, she’s been swamped.” Doug said, thinking fondly of his wife. “She’s a freaking mental juggernaut.”

“Um… Okay then.” Amethyst spoke. “Let’s just go ask Greg. Those two seem close. What with Greg teaching her the bass and all.”

“I thought it was pronounced ‘base’. You know, like when referring to the base of the mountain?” Peridot asked Lapis and Spinel, while the rest of the gang snuck away from them, leaving them to ponder the great mystery of how ‘bass’ is pronounced. 

Steven, Connie, and Doug walked away from the conversation before they got sidetracked again. As they headed into the temple, Amethyst and Greg were sitting at the table. when they noticed the group walking in, they stopped and turned.

“No luck?” Steven asked the two of them. “Pearl?”

“Sorry, sport. I haven’t seen her in a couple of weeks.” Greg said, sounding worried. “She’s missed 3 jam sessions in a row. I’m kinda worried.”

“We all are.” Connie said with a tone of sympathy, and Doug nodding in agreement.

“But what would have caused her to go into hiding?” Doug asked out loud.

“Me.” Steven said flatly.

“You?” Greg asked.

“Ever since the weird pink glow thing started that night, she hasn’t been seen since.” Steven said, feeling a deep sense of guilt. “I… I need to make things right.”

“You sure that’s a good idea man?” Amethyst asked. “Seems like a situation that could trigger something.”

“I know… but… Something’s telling me to do this. I’m responsible for Pearl going mi-” Steven was cut off by Doug.

“Nope.” Doug said, crossing his arms together.

“What?” Steven asked.

“Just nope. A really huge nope.” Doug replied. 

“This isn’t really something you should take responsibility for, Steven.” Greg said, dispensing the usual sage advice.

“Yeah.” Doug said, tagging in. “This, whatever might be going on with Pearl, it isn’t something you should have to own up to. you can’t be responsible for the happiness of others.”

“But…” Steven began to speak, while collecting his thoughts. “Then… What can I do?”

“Be supportive.” Connie said.

“Be sympathetic.” Doug said.

“Be compassionate.” Greg chimed in.

“Or, just, basically, be you. The new you!” Amethyst finished. “The old one was, no offence, trash. You don’t need to be running around and putting out fire’s man. At some point, you end up running out of water.”

“But… can anyone be a tad bit more specific?” Steven asked, sounding confused.

“Ok. Steven, If we do this. We do this because we’re generally worried about her. Because YOU are generally worried about her because she was gone for such a long time.” Connie said, putting both ands on his shoulders. “We don’t do this because it’s a job. We don’t do this because we messed up and have to set things right. And we don’t do it because she’s your responsibility. We do it because she’s our friend.”

“Also bird-mom” Amethyst spoke.

“That too.” Connie acknowledged. “So, why are we doing this?”

“Because Pearl is our friend?” Steven replied.

“And anything else?” Connie asked again.

“I… Not really.” Steven said before noticing that Amethyst was on her way to the door to the Temple doorway. “I can’t solve everything, and that’s not really a problem to solve.”

“I love it when you go meta, Steven.” Connie said, putting her hand on Steven’s cheeks and slightly smushing them.

“Okay. Guys, if we can get a move on?” Amethyst called back to Steven and Connie. Both their dads were already at the door. Things got awkwardly uncomfortable. “OK, I can’t get into Pearls room directly, but I do know of another way. And Doug, I need you to repeat after me.”

“Um… Repeat what after you?” Doug asked, looking puzzled.

“It’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.” Amethyst said flatly. “Just say it once.”

“Um, ok. ‘It’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside’.” Doug repeated Amethyst. “But why do you need me to say that?”

“Just so you don’t have to say it again.” Amethyst said, opening the door to her room. “Also, heads up, I shifted some things around to kind of open up the room. figure with the Famethysts coming by every so often, I would make room for them to hang out.”

As the door opened up, It showed Amethysts cavernous room. Usually, it would be cluttered with trash and junk. This time around though, all the piles seem to have been either shifted around based on either symbolism, color, or just the basic nature of the trash, biodegradable or otherwise.

“Yeah, thought I could give some of that ‘feng shui’ stuff a try.” Amethyst said, waving her arms around. “No regrets on that. It feels… better, I guess? Hey Doug, got to get a move on!”

As much of the group had begun to move deeper in, Doug was stuck in the doorway, moving between one room and the other, in a shocking state of wonderment.

“Oh… he’s… he’s never seen this room before.” Connie said, coming to the realization that after a few years, Doug had only been introduced to few aspects of gem technology. In this situation, he was going off of the deep end.

“Oh boy… I can already sense the geek cred coming on.” Greg said, chuckling to himself. “I was the same way too. But this… He hasn’t changed since college.”

“Wait, what?” Steven asked, looking confused and mildly shocked.

“That’s… a story for another time.” Greg said, trying to hide something from Steven. Steven, himself, knew that his dad never hid anything bad from him. And in this case, he senses a cool story in the future.

“G-guys! It’s… It’s bi-” Doug began to seak before being cut off.

“No, Douggie!” Amethyst called out to him. “You already said it before. It’s stated. We all know. Let’s just keep moving!”

“But it’s freaking bigger on-” Doug was interrupted again.

“Doug, I am not above using my whip on you!” Amethyst yelled out. “Normally, I would chuck things at you, but I’m not going to mess up the funky flow of this place! C’mon, man!”

Doug snapped out of it and continued to look around before seeing Greg and catching up to him.

“Oh my glob, dude!” Doug giggled quietly. “It’s just like…”

“Yeah man!.” Greg said, giggling as well. “Man, I missed those days. Saturday afternoons, no studying, just us, ramen, and ‘Dr. Why’ on a black and white television.”

“Good times, man!” Doug quietly exclaimed. “Good times.”

“Yeah… how bout we keep the nerd cred to ourselves, ok?” Amethyst said flatly, and sounding annoyed. “It was my idea first. Would they listen to a short, purple person? Nope! They’ll listen to the person who was suppose to proof read it, but just took it as their own. I swear, if I ever bump into Kevin Mifflin again, He’s going to disappear…”

“What the heck is going on here, Connie?” Steven asked, completely bedside himself when it came to the conversation that was unfolding in front of them.

“Biscuit, I have no idea.” Connie replied, slowly shaking their heads. “Best guess, Amethyst got a good idea stolen from her by patriarchal bull-donk, and our dad’s might have hung out in college.”

“Oh.” Steven replied.

“Also, I think we know where we got the weeb genes from.” Connie said flatly.

“We’ll be weebs together.” Steven said, holding Connie’s hand. “That’s not so bad, right?”

“Hmm… Guess so.” Connie said, squeezing Stevens hand as they walked along. The change in where all the piles where was remarkable to Steven. Before, there were towers of trash, going from the ground up to the ceiling. But now, it seemed like nearly 2/3rds of it had vanished, leaving behind a more appropriate sense of atmosphere one would find in a mysterious cavern. Odd strings of light hung from the ceiling. Some of them looked like Christmas lights wrapped around stalactites. Others seemed to look more natural forming. Steven didn’t take in enough time to figure it out what they were before Connie stopped him from bumping into his dad that was in front of him.

“Okay. This one should be it.” Amethyst said, looking into a pool of water that Steven recognized as the pool that lead to Pearls room. “The dive isn’t too deep. 5, maybe 6 feet deep, max. We’re going to have to go in 2 at a time since I only have two scuba tanks.”

“Why don’t I just bubble us all, and we just dive in like that?” Steven asked plainly.

“Wouldn’t we float though?” Doug asked.

“Eh. Not really.” Connie replied. “I don’t know why, but with the bubble, you just sink to the bottom.”

“And in this case, to the top.” Amethyst added.

“But… wouldn’t we just keep going up and down like that, since after a few feet, down would be up?” Greg asked.

All the three of them could say, or do in this case, was shrug, leaving Doug and Greg clueless.

“I’m going to be straight with you guys. Most of this gem stuff is really hard to explain.” Steven said, looking worried. “Best thing we can do is roll with it. I mean… I was kind of born into it, and I don’t even know how I do half of the stuff I do…”

“Don’t feel bad, Steven.” Amethyst spoke sympathetically. “I have no real clue either. Like you said, just roll with it. And speaking of, let’s all get in close now. The hole isn’t as big as it uses to be, but if we stay close, the bubble should be small enough to go through.”

Everyone moved in as close as they could before Steven bubbled them. Doug couldn’t help but be amazed by the bubble that surrounded them.

“Just roll with it. You ready, everyone?” Steven asked, to which everyone nodded. 

Collectively, they took 4 slow steps before the bubble had slipped in quickly into the deep pool of water. Everyone braced the sides of the bubble as they plunged into the water. The wall of stone that lined the pool had gone from rocky and craggy, to smooth and glossy. The gravitational inertia from entering in from one side of the hole was enough to cause the bubble to launch out through the other side, and onto a sturdier part of the platform. The downside to this was that they had reemerged on the other side, upside down. Out of instinct, and just before the bubble landed, Steven embraced Connie tightly, and formed another bubble around the both of them, making it a bubble within a bubble. Another downside is that, with other people in the prior bubble, it was like having a round stone rolling around. But before any permanent damage had occurred, both bubbles popped, leaving all prior occupants lying on the ground and groaning.

“Okay… In hindsight.” Steven spoke, while groaning in pain. “Maybe we should have gone two at a time.”

“Live and learn, Steven.” Doug mumbled as he got to his feet.

“See. Class is still in session. We’re learning stuff!” Connie groaned as she climbed off of Steven. “Now we just need to find Pea- wHAT THE HELL?!”

Connie’s eyes grew wide as she saw the surrounding areas. Where there were once pillars of flowing water, was now just stagnant pools that had small piles of debris of stone and puddles of water. The water had stopped flowing down the platforms, showing ladders where they were hidden by a torrent of crystal clear, nearly infinite water. The air was stagnant. More so than Amethysts room. This abrupt change in layouts of the rooms were shocking to say the least. Yet, it didn’t take them long to find Pearl. Or in this case, Pearl’s nest.

“What the heck happened here?” Amethyst said, looking scared. “This… this looked like my room… I’m suppose to be the messy one!”

“Yeah. this can’t be good. Pearl is usually more organized.” Greg said, sounding concerned. “This place looks even worse than my van.”

“This place… These things. They look familiar.” Steven said, walking over to a pile of stones that were lightly covered in moss. Brushing off one of the larger pieces of stone, he was met with the familiar face of Rose Quartz. “This… This came from the fountain. Mom’s fountain!”

“That’s not all.” Amethyst spoke, looking at another pile of crystals. “We got hourglasses here. Poorly reconstructed ones.”

“Is this… really how she lives?” Doug asked, sounding confused. “Neat on the outside, messy on the inside? I mean, it’s not a far-fetched thing, but… It’s Pearl we’re talking about here.”

“No.” Steven replied. “This place use to be filled with water flowing and pouring all over the place.”

“It used to be really pretty. But now, I’m just getting flashbacks.” Amethyst said, shaking her head. “The ‘L’il Butler’ incident?”

“Y-yeah. It might be one of those things.” Greg said, glancing briefly at Steven and looking away with a mild sense of shame. “All the more reason to find her. I know it’s hard to let go of the past. She’ll definitely need our help.”

“Yeah. but a place as big as this, how are we going to find her?” Steven asked, before getting his answer in the form of a fast-flying, purple falcon flying past him up into the sky. She seemed to have only been flying for a few seconds before flying down and landing in front of them.

“Yeah, center of the room, tallest platform. Kind of an obvious place for her.” Amethyst said.

“If it was so obvious, then why fly up there?” Doug asked.

“Oh… You know…” Amethyst began to speak before turning her arms into giant wings. “I just gotta stretch my wings from time to time.”

Steven and Connie tried to keep themselves from giggling too audibly, while Greg rolled his eyes. Doug, on the other hand, stood shocked at what had happened in front of him. He could only handle so much weird things in one day.

“Right, so… the tallest platform?” Steven asked, looking up at it. “How are we going to get up there? Looks like a lot of steps to climb.”

“You’re telling me.” Doug said, sounding terrified. “Like, hypothetically, what if one of us, not naming names, were to be afraid of heights?”

“Got a blindfold?” Amethyst asks Doug.

“Um, No?” Doug replied. “And wouldn’t it be really dangerous for someone to climb a really tall ladder wearing a blindfold?”

“Who said anything about climbing that death trap?” Amethyst asked, leaving everyone stunned.

The next thing they knew, they were all clutching onto the back of a large dog-copter. As Steven and Connie are used to these kinds of things, Greg latched on as tight as he could to the back of Amethysts neck, where as poor Doug, was hanging on to as much of Amethysts tail as they zoomed upwards.

“GAH!” Doug wailed. “WHY COULDN’T YOU GEMS HAVE TELEPORTATION ABILITIES!?”

“ARGH! Shoot! We should have brought lion!” Steven yelled through the wind.

“Lion?! I haven’t seen him all day!” Connie yelled. “Not going to lie though, he would definitely know where Pearl is!”

“Care to take a wager as to where Lion might be then?” Amethyst asked the group.

“LAST TIME GREG AND I MADE A BET WITH YOU, WE HAD TO WATCH YOUR ONE GEM PLAY ABOUT THE DICHOTOMY OF AN AMETHYST BECAUSE STEVEN WAS GOING TOO SLOW!” Doug yelled, while clutching on for dear life. “WHY COULDN’T YOU HAVE JUST KISSED CONNIE ON YOUR BIRTHDAY, STEVEN?!”

“HEY! Don’t blame Steven, Doug!” Greg yelled back at him “If Connie could have held out for his 16th, we wouldn’t have had to see the play, and you would have just been a bassist in my comeback tour!”

“Was my play really that bad?!” Amethyst roared.

“Honestly, I haven’t gone to see another film in years because of it. I knew none of them could live up to your play!” Doug cried out. “I think It might have made me a better father!”

“’US’, Doug! It made both of us better fathers for our kids. It was too freaking poignant” Greg yelled. “In fact, we should have never made the bet in the first place! What kind of people were we to make that kind of bet?”

After what felt like was forever, they made it to the top of the platform. The one thing that stood out was a stone yurt with a small opening. Light was seen flickering from within.

“What the heck is this?” Amethyst asked, shifting back into her original form. “These stones look like they might have come from the pyramid temple.”

When everyone got off, it only took Steven and Connie a few seconds to get their balance again. Doug and Greg weren’t as fortunate, with Greg lying on the ground and arms stretched outwards. Doug on the other hand was curled up into a ball, rocking back and forth. Amethyst, Connie, and Steven looked back on the two of them.

“Yo, Dad squad, you still breathing?!” Amethyst called out to them.

“I’m ok… just… trying to get my arms to work again.” Greg replied. Doug could only groan loudly as he rocked back and forth. “Doug says he’s ok too!”

“LIES!” Doug moaned loudly.

“Sssssshhhhhhhhhhhut your yaps out there!” came a loud, shrill voice from within the stone yurt. 

“So much for a surprise entrance.” Steven mumbled. “Hey Pearl? Can I come I-”

“Go away!” Pearl screeched. “Nuthin but us birds in here.”

“Come on, Pearl, we’re really worried about you. I’m really worried about you!” Steve said, moving closer to the entrance. “I just want to talk is all.”

“There’s no Perla here. Check the next house over!” Pearl yelled. This wasn’t going anywhere.

“Well… Too bad. I’m coming in, because we do need to talk about some things. And hiding from those things isn’t a great way to solve them.” Steven began to open up the front flap, before something large and pink did it for him. “Ah. Hey, Lion. Keeping Pearl company?”

Lion chuffed in agreeance. Steven knew now that Lion’s his own person. He goes where he’s needed the most. The fact he was here showed that Pearl was dealing with a lot.

“Hey, pretty pink boi.” Connie said, rubbing the bridge of Lion’s nose. “Think we can come in and talk to Pearl?”

“I can get you some of those weird mini fish pizzas’ you love so much?” Amethyst bribed Lion. He would have settled with Steven and Connie giving him pets and rubs, but he also knew to stretch out negotiations long enough to get more. Lion chuffed again, but with a lower tone than before. A way of him saying ‘Welcome’.

Lion backed out allowing the three of them to go in side.

“Don’t worry about us, guys. You go on ahead.” Greg sighed.

There was only one room, but it was more than enough to paint the picture of what’s going on with pearl. Or at least one of them. Pearl was curled up in a large pile of silk linen, watching a video on what looked to be Greg’s old T.V. from his van. The walls around the room were adorn with stone relief tablets of Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz. But at the last second, Steven finally noticed the one thing that stood out in the room: A second Pearl. White Diamonds Pearl. But this time, she was bright pink. Just like how she was in the dreams Steven use to have when he was on Homeworld. Pink Pearl looked up at him and smiled broadly. A smile that unnerved him.

“Oh! My Diamond! It’s so wonderful to see you again. And in your new form too!” Pink pearl chirped with glee. “It’s quite an adventurous look for you, my Diamond! You don’t have to change back right away.”

Steven’s stomach ached painfully, but he needed to keep it together for Pearl.

“Actually, the name is Steven. I’m not Pink Diamond.” Steven said, passively daydreaming of the old times of 4 minutes ago where he didn’t have to explain that he wasn’t his mom for the billionth time.

“Oh… hi… I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to Pink Diamond.” Pink Pearl said cheerfully.

“Wait, wut?” Amethyst chimed in.

“Another time. For now. I need to talk to Pearl.” Steven stated as calmly as he could. His stomach was on fire at this point. “It’s pretty important.”

“Pearl’s not here right now… just… gah, fine. What’s wrong?” Pearl said apathetically.

“Pearl… There’s been some stuff going on that… I need your help with.” Steven said, trying to not sound like he’s begging. “Spinel’s back. My gem is on fire whenever someone says my mom’s name…es. And then there’s this weird pink glow that happens whenever I’m stressed. And it would be nice if you could… maybe… come back home?”

“I’m home, Steven.” Pearl mumbled as she stared blankly at the T.V. Screen. “I’m home within home. So.. yeah. Home.”

“Tag out Steven.” Amethyst said, sensing that Steven might need to take a small break from negotiating with Pearl. “So, Pearl. Whatcha wat…ching?”

Their gaze fell upon the fusion of Rainbow Quartz, dancing in a leotard to synthesized exercise music. At this point, Steven’s stomach was not the only one churning.

“Ah… There something you wanna talk about?” Amethyst asked, prying into Pearls unconscious. “Maybe something that might have been bothering you recently?”

“No.” Pearl replied, curling up tighter. “Everything is fine. Normal. Nothing’s changed.”

“Well, funny you should say that, cause Steven had this REALLY neat power where he does something he doesn’t want to have happen.” Amethyst said lightheartedly. “And we were just sitting around outside, trying to figure out what to do. And then Connie, man the brain on her, wow. She was saying that we should try to find some way to TEACH Steven how to manage his new powers. Maybe also talk about other things. Then I said, ‘Well, Pearl might know a thing or two about teaching things’. So here we are. Wanna go teach us stuff? Maybe teach us how to not do crime?”

“Eh… he’ll figure it out. He doesn’t need me. and neither do you.” Pearl groaned woefully.

“What is your deal, Girl?” Amethyst asked, sounding very frustrated. “You haven’t been this depressed since Rose gave up her form. You were doing great! And now… What happened?!”

“Oh, she’s fine. She’s just a little sad is all. She’ll get over it.” Pink Pearl said with a broad grin on her face. “All us Pearls never get depressed!”

“Ding. Ding. Amethyst. My turn.” Connie said, moving around Amethyst and standing in between Pearl and the T.V. “Pearl, come on. We need you to snap out of this and tell us wat’s wrong! This isn’t like you. Cooping yourself up, surrounding yourself with all of these things about Rose Quartz. What’s really going on?”

Pearl slowly looked up at Connie, her eye’s narrowing. For a brief moment, she was about ready to speak before glancing over at Pink Pearl, and rolling her eyes. She then rolled her eyes and sat up as she pressed her fingertips to her gem, and pulled out two scrolls of parchment. She then presented them to Connie and spoke in a long, low tone. 

“There. Congratulations. You and Steven just graduated from the Beach City Academy of performing arts and academics. You don’t need me anymore. Please go.” Pearl said flatly. She flopped back down on the pile of silk blankets and sheets, the diploma scrolls rolling out of her hands, and then readjusting herself so she could see the T.V. clearly enough.

“Enough of this.” Steven said, sounding frustrated. “Pearl, come on! Of course, I need you. And you need to get out of this place. It’s ok to be sad sometimes and remember people you lost. But this is pretty toxic. It’s not healthy.”

Pearl laid there, zoned out at the T.V., Making Steven feel even more frustrated. He moved closer to try to lift her up, but was stopped by Pink Pearl.

“That wouldn’t be wise, my Diamond.” Pink Pearl said, causing Steven to feel more annoyed. “She’s perfectly fine. We’re just waiting for you to come out and be with us again.”

“Be with you…. I’m already here!” Steven yelled, clenching his fist. “I’ve spent over 2 years moving past being someone I’m not. I’m not Pink Diamond! I never was! And I’m not Rose either! I’m me!”

“Of course, you’re yourself, My Diamond.” Pink Pearl said, with the sickly-sweet smile on her face. 

Steven’s eyes welled up with tears. He was angry. But he was also tired. He had worked so hard to move beyond the expectations of others. He wasn’t going to try to prove himself again to someone else. they had to either take him for who he was or not.

“No… I’m not going to prove myself to you. But you Pearl, I need you. I’m really scared right now. These powers. These feelings. None of this is right. And I need your help! Please don’t leave me like this!” Steven said, hot tears streaking down his face.

“But… I already gave you your diploma.” Pearl said wearily.

“I don’t need some stupid diploma!” Steven roared, causing Connie and Amethyst to look on in shock. “I don’t need school! I need MY PEARL!”

The room slowly glowed pink. The sickly-sweet smile on Pink Pearls face faded to a more neutral look. Pearl, on the other hand, looked terrified. Steven had no idea why they looked scared. He looked over at Connie and Amethyst, who had backed away slightly. A low glow of pink light reflected off of their eyes.

“Connie… Amethyst… What-” Steven begun to speak, but his voice was echoed. He looked down at himself, and was shocked. He had turned pink again, and right in front of them all.

“My Diamond.” Pink Pearl whispered. “I knew you were here. All this time. Welcome back.”

“No… NO!” Steven roared as he bolted from the stone yurt. 

As he bolted from the place, he raced past Doug and his dad, to whom he briefly met their gaze. Their faces were a mixture of stun and shock. This ultimately gave Steven more momentum to run faster, even if he had forgotten that he was on the tallest plateau in the room. Even as he was falling, he wan in mid air, with the same momentum. He remembered…

“So while an object is going at a certain speed when leaving a flat plain, such as if something were to fall from a tall cliff, or a cannon ball leaving the cannon, what happens to it’s trajectory?” Pearl asked Steven and Connie. The afternoon sunlight on a spring day nearly a year ago, It was oddly fresh in Steven’s mind. “Does anything affect it? Does it go in a straight line, or does it just fall straight down?”

“Neither, and both?” Steven asked.

“How so?” Pearl asked, seemingly intrigued with Steven’s odd answer.

“Well… Can I grab a couple of sodas?” Steven asked.

“You know the rules about drinking that stuff in class, Steven.” Pearl reminded him, but also knowing what Steven was going to try to do.

“I know. But it’s not for drinking. It’s… for SCIENCE!” Steven said as he raced to the refrigerator and then to the counter top with a couple of sodas.

“Ah. I know what you’re getting at.” Connie said with a grin. She grabbed a couple of the couch cushions and met up with Steven. She remembered the video she and Steven had to watch for homework about how gravity and trajectory the night before. She placed the cushions down on the ground near the front of the counter top. Steven handed her a soda can, in which she held over one of the couch cushions. 

“One. Two. Three!” Steven counted down as he rolled the can of soda off of the counter top, and over the edge. At the very same moment, Connie dropped the can onto the couch cushion below right at the very moment the can left the counter top. Despite the speed of the can leaving the counter top, both Steven’s and Connie’s cans of soda land at the same time onto the cushions.

“Bravo, you two!” Pearl exclaimed softly and she clapped her hands. Steven remembers the look on Pearl’s face. It was one of pride. She… she was happy. Happy for both Connie and himself.

Steven softly landed on the ground below him. As if time had slowed, he made is way to the door, which opened up for him, and made his way to the front of the beach house, where he collapsed onto the sand. Tears dripped from his face and onto the sand as he gasped for air. His skin felt like it was on fire, and his gem was the source. He desperately crawled to the ocean, wanting to cool off his body. It wasn’t too far. Just a few feet. Just a foot. Just an inch. Just a moment.

The cold ocean waters lapped over his torso. His body cooled as he kept his head above water. His gem slowly cooled off as well. Like hot metal being plunged into an icy pool of water, his gem had been quenched. Suddenly, he felt as though he was being pulled out of the water by something. Someone. Dragged onto the sand, he saw the perpetrators looking down at him.

“Steven!” Connie exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around him. “Biscuit… It’s ok. I’m here. Both of us.”

He felt a second set of arms being wrapped around the both of them. They were stockier, but smaller than his dad’s. Amethyst.

“Dude… Breathe.” Amethyst whispered. “We’re here, little bro.”

“I… I thought I was done with this shit, man.” Steven murmured, tears continuing down his face as they hugged and consoled him.

They continued this for what seemed like forever. But being surrounded by those who loved him, and knew him best, he wouldn’t mind being like that forever. Eventually though, they sat on the beach, watching the sky go from blue, to a light purple. Lion had apparently got them out of the room and back to the beach as soon as they could. Lion lazily laid on the sand, curled up right next to the three of them and softly purring. The ocean breeze continued to cool him off.

“Buddy?” Amethyst asked softly. “How you doin’ over there?”

“Not great… but getting better.” Steven said, holding on to Connie and Amethysts hand.

“You want to talk about it?” Connie asked gently, feeling as though she might get shut out.

“Yeah. I do.” Steven said, taking a deep breath. “I had hoped that Pearl could help. Maybe try to figure out of this thing is cracked, or just malfunctioning like it did when we fought Spinel. It’s like it went from being nearly useless, to being in overdrive.”

“Hmmm.” Amethyst mumbled. “Thinking out loud, but what if this was the opposite? Like, instead of you remembering who you are… What if it was the Gem just going back into the diamond state. Like, freshly made diamond state.”

“That… That could track.” Steven said. “Terrifying as all get out. But with something like this… you might be right.”

“What can I say, I’m a broken clock.” Amethyst joked. “I got to be right sometime.”

“You’re right more often than not. Both of you.” Steven said. “I love you both… you know that… right?”

“Yeah… We know.” Connie replied. “I love you too, Biscuit.”

Connie softly kissed Steven’s cheek as she laid her head on his shoulder.

“I would say the same, just not in that context.” Amethyst said awkwardly. “Not gonna kiss you though.”

“Please don’t.” Steven chuckled.

“What’s that? You need a big old slobbery kiss?” Amethyst joked. “Been reading those Peri-novelas, Steven?”

“OH HECK NO!” Steven exclaimed. “Please tell me she never did that… Please?”

Amethyst laughed hard.

“Hell nah, man!” Amethyst said. “If she ever tried that, I’d launch her into the sun!”

“What about Lapis?” Connie asked.

“Dang girl, you really want her gone.” Amethyst joked.

“No. Just don’t want Peridot to get lonely as they plunge into oblivion is all.” Connie replied. “But… no. I don’t want her gone. I kind of owe her an apology.”

“Hmm… yeah.” Steven spoke. “For now though. What am I going to do? Pearl was my final shot. Instead, we graduated early… I haven’t even thought about what I want to do.”

“Neither do I…” Connie added.

“Weren’t you thinking about college?” Steven asked.

“About that… I’m not sure anymore.” Connie admitted. “Might as well come clean. I got no idea what I’m good at. I’m smart, yeah, but… I don’t know where to go with that. I often just daydream about being an adventurer. Going off and exploring new lands and worlds. I know it’s not an ideal career choice, but I can’t honestly think of anything else. No matter what I want to do. I want to do it with you.”

Amethyst didn’t even bother to try to stop laughing at what Connie had said, or just how she worded it. And at this point, Connie is beyond the point of caring.

“Yeah… same. I just wish I knew what I was doing. I hate being like this. I hate being helpless.” Steven said with full honesty.

“Who ever said that being helpless is a bad thing?” A familiar voice spoke from behind them. “Before you can find yourself, you gotta get lost first.”

Steven spun around quickly. His eyes welled up at the sight of her. Obsidian, fully formed.

“Sup, biscuit buns?” Obsidian said with a grin. The grin quickly changed into one of shock. Like a dear in the headlights of a car. She was instantaneously tackled with a hug from all three of them.

“OH MY GOSH, OBSIDIAN!” Steven exclaimed, tears falling down his face. “Obsidian! I… I thought we lost you! I thought you weren’t going to reform ever again! I missed you so much!”

“Gah! I might not need air, but for glob sake, stop hugging so tightly.” Obsidian said, gasping for air as everyone let go of her. “Whew… Actually, I said that it would take anywhere from a year, to maybe a millennium or two. But I made sure I reformed as fast as I could. And jeez, you couldn’t go a full year without getting into some trouble!”

“Yeah… Sor-” Steven was about to apologize.

“Needless apologies later. For now, though, heard you got yourself some gem troubles.” She smirked, her gem reflecting the changing sky. “Let’s get back inside. Tell me everything. All three of you. I just hope you got some grub. Haven’t eaten anything in a year.”

“Definitely.” Steven said, wiping away the tears as they all made their way in

**Author's Note:**

> Anxiety is a hard thing to deal with. And even a harder thing to overcome when it hits. So most of the things Steven is going through is pretty relatable. but unlike the show, he's got a support group. He's loved and cared about. and... not going to lie, I'm more invested in this AU than i am in the show. This may have it's moments of angst, but there's comfort at the end of it all. I feel bad saying that i care more about this than the show. I have bad vibes about it, and it's direction. and for the longest time, i tried to mesh both my writing and the show together, but now I'm moving away from it at all cost... I feel like a terrible writer for doing it, but at the same time, i'm just trying to save what's left of my sanity, as well as my love for the characters i helped grow in my own way.
> 
> Also, i need help, people. nothing desperate, but i need help coming up with a proper name for this AU.maybe do a contest, and whoever wins gets a personalized fanfic or something. maybe a "I'll write anything" kind of prize? but within reason. no major deaths unless it's crackfic. nor any form of abuse or anything. i might be lenient on NC-17 kind of things, depending on the prompt. anyway, just throwing that out there. open to suggestions.
> 
> Next time: Going through on her promise, Spinel sets out to help fix things around town, while being under the watchful guise of Steven, Garnet, and Connie. Connie struggles with internal feelings about Spinel, as well as her own actions. Spinel regales the group as to how she wanted to come back and fix things. And Steven struggles with long buried feelings about something that happened a long time ago. 'Supervision required', coming in April.


End file.
